This invention relates generally to the use of audio/visual (AV) information on display apparatus of AV systems, and more particularly to the efficient and intuitive presentation, navigation, and selection of available AV information in a graphical user interface (GUI) that is displayed on a display apparatus of an AV system and controlled through judicious manipulation of a scrolling mechanism and selection mechanism of a navigation and selection device of the AV system.
The continued growth of the numerous AV options available for viewing and/or listening by users of AV systems, has made it necessary and desirable for the users of such AV systems to be able to efficiently and intuitively navigate through the available AV options in order to select desired programming. The explosion in the number of cable, satellite and digital television viewing choices, as well as the emergence of Internet websites dedicated to programming and music that are now available for viewing on television and computer screens via the airwaves, cable, and satellite, has made it necessary and desirable for the user to be able to easily navigate through more and more AV options. It is noted that the term xe2x80x9cAVxe2x80x9d as used herein may encompass solely audio, solely visual, or a combination of audio/visual.
Consider, for instance, that as the number and availability of broadcast channels for viewing on multiple channel television broadcast systems has continued to proliferate at an astonishing rate, the problem of navigating through the morass of available viewing selections has correspondingly become of more and more concern to the viewers of such systems. The sources of such programming can today provide hundreds of stations to viewers who must navigate through myriad broadcasting choices, a prospect that is both time-consuming and frustrating.
Many on-screen guides, such as electronic program guides (EPGs), allow the user presented with AV programming options to navigate options through the use of four-way directional buttons and a selection button. This is a cumbersome and unsatisfactory solution, however, in that it requires the user to use these buttons many times to reach a desired on-screen option in the guide. There currently exists a need in the art, therefore, to be able to quickly view available AV options and information of an AV system. There additionally is a need in the art to be able to quickly and intuitively navigate the AV options and information of the AV system.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to be able to quickly and intuitively view, navigate, and select available AV options and information of an AV system.
Therefore, according to the present invention, an improved method, navigation and selection device, GUI and system are presented. In an AV system having one or more AV devices, a display apparatus capable of displaying interactive AV information, a navigation and selection device having an integral scrolling mechanism, and a GUI displayed on the display apparatus, a user of the system is able to quickly, intuitively, and efficiently navigate available AV options displayed during an interactive mode of the GUI through appropriate manipulation of the scrolling mechanism. Related AV options are organized by management software of the navigation and selection device as items within lists that, in turn, correspond to navigable fields of a status bar of the GUI during the GUI interactive mode. The AV options of a list are related in the sense that they will generally share one or more identifiable characteristics. A field of the status bar that is highlighted by a cursor of the GUI will display its list of related AV information options arranged as items within the list, assuming the highlighted field is navigable. Items within the list may be navigated by the user simply engaging the scrolling mechanism of the navigation and selection device to scroll the items through the highlighted field of the GUI status bar. A different field of the status bar may be selected by the user moving the scrolling mechanism in a lateral movement. Activation of the selection mechanism of the navigation and selection device will cause an AV device of the system to be controlled in accordance with the AV options displayed within the status bar fields at the time the selection mechanism is activated.